tax credits/part time work/irregular income

Bambi86

hi guys...hope this is the right place to post this. i'm in the process of applying for child tax credits and working tax credits, and run into a slight problem on the form as i do casual work of 16 hrs pw and earn £92 so i fall under the NI threshold of £95...has anyone else been in this situation and does it prove troublesome when applying for working tax credits??
many thanks in advance for any replies, this is all a bit confusing!

Bambi xx

bestpud

Bambi86 wrote: »

hi guys...hope this is the right place to post this. i'm in the process of applying for child tax credits and working tax credits, and run into a slight problem on the form as i do casual work of 16 hrs pw and earn £92 so i fall under the NI threshold of £95...has anyone else been in this situation and does it prove troublesome when applying for working tax credits??
many thanks in advance for any replies, this is all a bit confusing!

Bambi xx

When you say 'casual', do you mean cash in hand?

If so, then yes, it may cause problems.

What are you claiming at the moment?

Bambi86

hi,
i'm on their books but get paid cash yes, but it's above board. im not claiming any benefits at the mo, i'm in private rented accomodation with my partner and our 7 wk old daughter. i'm getting child benefit of course but feel at a dead end as the form for child tax credits also assesses you for working tax credit. how do i go about filling out the emplyoment section? been trying to phone the helpline all morning but its been busy and cuts me off.

bestpud

It doesn't matter that you aren't paying tax and/or NI if you are under the limit and the employer is above board.

How much does your partner earn though as it will be based on your joint income?

If your joint income is less than about £50k then you wil receive child tax credits. Less than around £18k and you will receive working tax credits as well. Those are very rough figures but just give you an idea.

You just fill in the number of hours you work on average and the same with your wages.

It will be less of an issue if your OH works full time.

Bambi86

Well last year my income was higher as i changed jobs (stupidly) from a higher paid to lower paid, before i knew i was expecting my daughter.
I changed jobs in september, so for last tax year joint income was roughly 19k, but this years income will be around 12k. OH works contracted 25 hrs but might be raising this year....his income is around 9k per yr at the mo.
To be honest i dont mind what we are entitled to, as we feel that every little helps seeing as this is our first flat and baby, you know what it's like!

alwaysonthego_2

Trespasser wrote: »

I'm not questioning what your saying but, isn't travelling time included in working hours?

I think somewhere (if memory serves me correctly) that total working hours should have travelling time taken into account.

May be worth looking up. :rolleyes:

Travelling time is not included as part of your hours for the benefit of Tax credits, only your contracted hours are included.

Trespasser

alwaysonthego wrote: »

Travelling time is not included as part of your hours for the benefit of Tax credits, only your contracted hours are included.

Yes your right, I now know it is isn't. It was something Unison was debating for there members.

But then again, what do you expect? This is Britain, and we all know the British worker gets stuffed.